Razor blade sharpener



July 27, 1937. w. H. BoDEcKER 2,088,401

` RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER I Filed Dec. 24, 1955 A -lmmlll l .ll Il ,ZT 157'f BY I l ATTORNEY Patented July 27, 1937 V RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER`Winchester H. Bodecker, Tenaly, N. J.A

Application December 24, 1935, Serial No. 55,944.`

3 Claims.

lThis invention relates to an improvement in razor blade Sharpeners andparticularly to a means whereby the proper honing angle of the bladerelative to a flat honing surface is attained during the honingoperation.

In the past efforts have been made to provide a razor blade holder whichheld the blade in position to enable the blade to be moved along theflat surface of a honing stone, and one of the objections inherent inthese holders is that the angle at which the blade is presented to thecont-acting honing surface is dependent upon the manual Y pressureimposed upon the blade holder. Thus, when considerable pressure isimposed on the holder the angle of presentation of the cutting edge ofthe blade to the surface of the hone is quite different from the angleat which it is presented when relatively light pressure is imposed onthe holder. Accordingly, the sharpening result attained by differentusers was dependent upon the ability of the user to apply just the rightpressure to present the cutting edge of the blade at the correct angleto the honing surface.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a blade holder whichautomatically presents the cutting edge of the blade at the correctangle to the surface of the hone to enable the maximum of sharpeningsatisfaction to be had regardless of the extent of manual pressureimposed during the sharpening operation.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof,in Which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved blade holder showinga blade in place, and the holder resting on a fiat honing surface; Fig.2 is a similar View with part of the base of the holder shown in sectionYand the clamping member of the holder in raised position; Fig. 3 is aplan View of the structure shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a verticalsectional vieW through the structure of Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a sideelevation of the device, with the lower portion of it in section, inposition for the sharpenin-g operation.

In the drawing, 6 indicates the base or body portion of the holder,which is provided with a flat underface 'l extending slightly upwardlyat its forward end, as indicated at 8. At its rear end, the base 6 isprovided with spaced lugs `9 between which the upper or clamping memberI0 of the holder is pivoted by means of the pivot pin Il. Both the base6 and clamping member I0 may be composed of metal or, if desired, of anyone of the phenolic plastic materials. The base is formed on its upperface with an inclined seat I2 having a slightly concave surface, on`which the razor blade I3 is received.

Extending longitudinally of the seat is an elongatedY rib I-tconstituting a keying means for holding the blade properly positioned onthe seat I2. It will be understood that said rib I4 may be made invarious shapes to accommodate the differently shaped openings found invarious makesof wafertype razor blades. At its opposite ends Ythe baseis reinforced by the upstanding Walls 25; The clamping member I0 isformed with a curved under-surface I5, complementary to the curved faceof the seat I2 and member II! is also formed with anelongated recess orygroove I6 into which the upst'anding rib It projects when the clampingmemberV I0 is brought down upon the blade I3, as the blade rests uponthe seat I2 with a minor portion of it, including one of its cuttingedges,

'projecting beyond the front of the holder.

ing member with the curved face of the seatA I2, the blade is flexed, asclearly shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. This exing movement of the bladecauses one of the converging surfaces I9 of the blade, adjacent to thecutting edge 20 thereon to be brought perfectly flat against the honingsurf-ace 2|.

The holder with the blade in position as PART GHCE shown in Figs. 1, 4and 5 is then moved in the direction of the arrows in those figures.Since the greater portion of the blade is disposed within the holder andis exed between the co-operating surfaces of the members 6 and I0 of theholder, and the converging edge portion of the blade is brought into thesame plane as the at surface 'I of the base member by the flexingoperation, the amount of manual pressure imposed upon the holder duringmovement of the holder along the honing surface does not in any wayaffect the angle at Which the edge of the blade is presented to thehoning surface. The formation'of a keen cutting edge by an inexperiencedperson, as well as by those expert in honing, is therefore assured.

To facilitate the movement of the blade holder along the face of thehoning stone, the clamping member I0 is provided withfnger-engagingrecesses'ZZ in its opposite ends. These recesses alsofacilitate Ythe raising of the clamping member I0 when it is desired toreverse the position of the blade in the holder. The base member 6 ofthe holder is formed with laterally extending lugs 23 to enable it to beheld down on the face of the honing stone by one hand while the clamp isbeing lifted by the other. In operating the holder, with a blade inposition, the holder should be moved in one direction only, or in thedirection of the arrows shown in Figs. l, 4, and 5, and not with areciprocatory motion, as the proper honing of a safety razor blade isprocured by moving the cutting edge of the blade forwardly only.

What I claim is:

1. A razor blade Sharpener comprising a pair of hinged clamping membersbetween which a exible type blade is flexed and held with one of itscutting edges in a projecting position, one of the clamping membershaving a flat face for contact with a honing surface facing the convexside of the flexed blade and said surface extending on a line with oneof the converging edge portions of the blade adjacent to its cuttingedge when the blade is clamped whereby said converging edge portionrests flat upon the honing surface when the holder is placed with itsflat face in contact with the honing surface and the flat face of saidholder prevents changes in. angular presentation of the cutting edge ofthe blade to the honing surface.

2. A razor blade Sharpener having a base formed with a flat undersurface for slidable reception upon a flat honing surface, the uppersurface of said base being formed with an inclined, transversely curvedblade seat for receiving a blade and holding it with a. convexly curvedface directed toward the honing surface and with a cutting edgeprojecting forwardly beyond the front limit of the base, a clampingmember for forcing the blade against the inclined curved seat so thatone of the converging edges of the blade adjacent to its projectingcutting edge will be brought into the same plane as the flat undersurface on the base.

3. A razor blade Sharpener comprising a blade holder having a ilat faceadapted to be slidably held against a honing surface, and means on saidholder for clamping a wafer-type flexible blade and flexing it to holdit with a convex face directed toward the honing surface and with one ofits cutting edges projecting out of the holder with one of theconverging edge portions of the blade adjacent to said projectingcutting edge brought into the same plane as the ilat face on the holderand constantly maintained in said plane lduring the honing operationregardless of the amount of manual pressure imposed on the holder.

WINCHESTER H. BODECKER.

